HKIRC

Type:	Non-Profit
Industry:	Domain Registry
Founded:	2001
Headquarters:	Hong Kong
Country:	Hong Kong
Website:	www.hkirc.hk
Facebook:	HKIRC
LinkedIn:	HKIRC

Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) is a Hong Kong based non-profit, non-statutory corporation responsible for managing the operations of the .hk country code top level domain name (ccTLD), as well as the internationalized version of the domain, .香港. It was designated by the government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to act as the registry for domain names with the string .com.hk, .org.hk, .gov.hk, .edu.hk, .net.hk and .idv.hk.

History

HKIRC was established by the Hong Kong government, academic, and the legal sectors on December 14, 2001, as a company limited by guarantee with no share capital. In April 2002, the corporation became the registry operator of the .hk ccTLD after it was designated by HKSAR. Mr. Joseph Yu served as Chairman of the Board while Jonathan Shea served as CEO. The Joint Universities Computer Center Limited (JUCC) had been the the original administrator of the .hk ccTLD, managing it since 1992, and during the transition ceremony HKRIC promised that the JUCC would receive $10 million from the corporation within 6 years in recognition for its early efforts in administering the .hk ccTLD. The Hong Kong government also provided JUCC with $4.1 million for the facilities, equipment and manpower resources that were needed by the university during early implementation of the new registration policies and services.

The founding members of HKIRC include:

• Information Technology Services Department represented by its Assistant Director Mr. YAN Sik Lun
• Joint Universities Computer Centre Limited represented by its Director Dr. NG Na
• The Chinese General Chamber represented by its Committee Member Mr. YU, Joseph Shin Gay
• The Hong Kong General Chamber represented by its Assistant Director for Operations Dr. CHEUNG, Yiu Sing
• Hong Kong Information Technology Federation Limited represented by its President Mr. MOK, Charles Pete
• Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association represented by its Chairman Mr. SOONG, Chester Tak Kar
• The Law Society of Hong Kong represented by its President Mr. Herbert TSO

Currently, the registration of .hk domain names is primarily handled by Hong Kong Domain Name Registration Co Ltd (HKDNR), a wholly-owned subsidiary of JUCC.

Objectives

As registry operator, HKIRC aims to achieve the following objectives:

• Promote Hong Kong as an international center for e-commerce for the benefit of the Internet community in the country and to encourage them to better understand the Internet and its related technologies.
• Establishment and development of a self-regulatory framework to be able to enhance the administration and registration system for all .hk domain names
• Accreditation and monitoring of the performance of registrars in providing registration services
• Manage the allocation of IP addresses in Hong Kong
• Establish a Uniform Dispute Resolution Process to be able to properly address complaints

Board of Directors

• Mr. CHAN Sai Ming, Simon (Chairman)
• Mr. HO Wai Chung, Stephen (Deputy Chairman)
• Mr. PANG Tsz Kit, Gabriel (Deputy Chairman)
• Mr. CHAN Tik Yuen, Leonard
• Mr. CHENG Siu Hong, Raymond
• Mr. LEE Fan Fung, Sean
• Dr. LEE Woon Ming, Wendy
• Mr. LI Ming Pan, Ben

HKIRC and ICANN

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approved the re-delegation of the .hk ccTLD to HKIRC on June 28, 2005. On March 23, 2010, ICANN delegated the Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) string .香港, the Chinese equivalent of .hk, to HKIRC after completing the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process. HKIRC is a member of ICANN's country code names supporting organization and it also an active member of the Asia Pacific Top Level Domain Association (APTLD), and has further served as the Secretariat of the organization since July 1, 2009. In 2011, the corporation hosted APTLD's meeting in Hong Kong.

Since its inception, HKIRC has been an active participant in the different activities, meetings and discussions raised within the ICANN community. In 2004, HKIRC commented on the issue regarding the proposed .asia TLD citing that it may cause confusion to the Internet community because it represents a geographical scope and it may cause an overlap with the ccTLDs. It also pointed out that .asia violates the general practice that generic top level domain names (gTLDs) serve specific industries, organizations without a geographical scope, and consequently it should not be evaluated under the same process along with the other proposed gTLDs. The corporation also expressed its concern regarding the financial capability of DotAsia. HKIRC admitted that .asia is a good concept but it still strongly expressed its opposition to the proposal.